Formula 1 releases its iOS, Android, BlackBerry apps for the 2012 season

Formula 1 has released updated mobile apps for the 2012 season, now available …

Regular readers will probably know that I'm Ars Technica's resident racing nerd. Actually going racing is about as much fun as you can have with your (nomex) clothes on, but it's not exactly the cheapest hobby in the world. But watching other people zoom round and round in circles provides enough of a fix to make NASCAR the US' largest spectator sport, the 24 Hours of Le Mans the world's biggest sporting event, and the Formula 1 (F1) season the most viewed sport on TV after the Olympics. F1 has been adapting to our ever more digital lifestyle, first by offering live timing and scoring via the Web, and more recently with mobile apps. Now, they've just released their latest version for the 2012 season, just in time for the first race taking place this coming weekend.

The app is available in two flavors, a free version that gives you news feeds, countdowns, and notifications for the races, and a paid version ($28.99 in the US iTunes App Store) that gives you access to live timing and scoring, real-time track positioning, and lap-by-lap text commentary and notifications. You can also pause races and download a complete race after the event.

That last feature is a real boon to those of us who timeshift the more inconveniently scheduled races; F1 is a global sport, but its biggest market is Europe, so most of the races end up being on very early in the morning if you're in the US. Being able to download the data for a race means you can still use the app even as you watch the race on your DVR.

No, it's not the cheapest app out there. And yes, if all you want is live timing, you can get that for free on F1's website. But if you're planning on attending an F1 race this year, having all that data at your fingertips at the track is incredibly handy, and at less than $30, it's quite a lot cheaper than renting a FanVision. Android and BlackBerry users will be glad to know that they're no longer neglected, with versions for those platforms also available.